Best Western Vol 1 59
Supporting Characters: * Antagonists: * * Other Characters: * Locations: * Items: * Vehicles: * | StoryTitle2 = The Black Rider Strikes! | Writer2_1 = | Penciler2_1 = John Severin | Inker2_1 = | Synopsis2 = Matthew Masters is riding back to Leadville after a house call at one of the outer ranches. Along the way he spots Bush Bennett and his men trying to rustle some of the Lathrops horses. He tries to stop them, but he gets grazed on the back of the head by a bullet. Masters falls off his horse and Bennett and his men try to steal Satan as well. However, the horse is too smart and runs off before it can be taken. When Masters revives he finds that the gang has left and Satan returns as he is patching himself up. He rides back into Leadville where he finds that Marie and Bobby are with the sheriff and explains his encounter with Bennett and his gang. Slipping away to his doctors office, Matthew changes in to the Black Rider and rides out to where the Lathrops are camping out with the batch of horses that have not been stolen yet. Arriving at the scene he finds Bobby and Marie camping out and a posse led by the sheriff hiding out waiting for Bennett and his men. Sure enough, the rustlers arrive with guns blazing and the Black Rider joins the fight. In the confusion, Marie is taken hostage by Brush Bennett who uses her as a means of escaping with his remaining men. The Black Rider chases after them and soon finds Marie tied up to a tree. When he comes to her aid he soon finds that it is a trap that was set up by Bennett and his men, who catch him in a lasso. The Black Rider still manages to draw his guns and shoot down Bennett's surviving men. Before Bennett can shoot the Black Rider, Satan tramples him to death under his hoofs. Marie is freed and the Black Rider rides off into the night leaving Marie to wonder, once more, when she will ever see him again. | Appearing2 = Featured Characters: * Supporting Characters: * * Antagonists: * Other Characters: * Locations: * Items: * Vehicles: * | StoryTitle3 = Secret of the Valley of Fear! | Writer3_1 = | Penciler3_1 = Syd Shores | Penciler3_2 = John Severin | Synopsis3 = While riding the range, Two-Gun Kid and Rusty Randolph spot a lynch mob about to hang a man. Believing that the man deserves a fair trial, the Kid rushes to the scene and cuts the rope before he can be hanged and helps the man escape. Rushing into town, the man introduces himself as Bill Banks to Two-Gun and Rusty, and thanks them for saving his life although he lost his hat. In town they meet with Bill's girl Joan. He explains that he was carrying the savings he had earned so they could get married and crossed paths with a man seeking to sell cattle real cheap. Bill bought up the cattle, however when he got to town someone saw the brands on the herd and accused him of stealing the cattle and a lynch mob tried to string him up. Two-Gun and Rusty pay their leave but as they are leaving town they are shot at by someone. The shooter escapes and the Kid decides they should double back and help Bill since they have adopted some of his enemies. Telling Bill what happened they all decide to follow him back to the stop where he bought the cattle. While they are doing so, the mastermind of the entire plot hears what happened from his minions and orders them to eliminate Bill before the truth can be learned. One of the men turns over the hat that Bill lose while fleeing the lynch mob, and their leader figures it will be of good use to convince the locals that Bill really is responsible for the local cattle rustling. Meanwhile, Two-Gun, Rusty and Bill arrive at the spot where the transaction took place and begin following the back trail to figure out where the man with the cattle came from. At that time, the real rustlers steal cattle from another ranch and leave Bill's hat at the scene in order to incriminate him of the crimes. They ride the cattle out to where area that Two-Gun and the others are searching. Their fire causes Two-Gun and the others to take cover and when they come out they find the rustlers and their stolen herd have seemingly disappeared. Meanwhile, big rancher Todd Jordan is gathering a posse to hung down and capture Bill. Hearing this, Joan rides out and warns Bill of what is happening. Two-Gun sends Rusty and Joan back to town while he and Bill continue their search, ordering them to come back when the posse leaves to search for them. Nearby in a ranch hidden behind the mountains, a baby calf breaks free from the pen and flees the ranch. It finds the exit from the secret passage into the valley and is spotted by Two-Gun Kid and Bill who follow it back to the ranch. However, they are outnumbered by the outlaws there and are captured. Meanwhile, the posse have ridden into the area, with Rusty following along behind them. Rusty stops to drink from a stream and finds the secret entrance to the outlaw ranch and alerts the posse, although Todd Jordan tries to convince them the boy is crazy. Catching the outlaws, they stop them before they can eliminate Two-Gun Kid and Bill. They expose that Todd is the mastermind behind the rustling and they apprehend him and the outlaws. | Appearing3 = Featured Characters: * Supporting Characters: * Antagonists: * Other Characters: * Locations: * Items: * Vehicles: * | Notes = * This issue also features a one page "Scrap Book of the West" feature about the Siege at the Alamo *Online indexes of Marvel creators typically considered the story "The Black Rider Strikes!" to have been penciled by Al Hartley. In the 2010s, this was considered to be an error. The penciler seems to have been John Severin, and not Hartley. *The story "Secret of the Valley of Fear!" had two different pencilers. Pages 1 to 3 were attributed to Syd Shores, while pages 4 to 8 were attributed to John Severin. | Trivia = | Recommended = | Links = }}